Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/570649
October 2015 | Boating Industry | 45 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// what's driving a lot of the interest in this segment." "What's amazing to me is that wakesurfing has influenced towed water sports I want to say even more than wakeboarding. And the reason I say that is that I have never seen boat manufacturers spend as much money as they are spending right now on wakesurfing," said Larry Meddock, chair- man of the Water Sports Industry Association. "It all of a sudden became this universal activity that has no impact on the body, it has no bindings to deal with, it's done slow, it's still social and it has absolutely taken off." Wakesurfing has been so influential that is has caused manufacturers who were not otherwise engaging in the water sports segment to enter the playing field. The biggest of which, of course, is Volvo Penta. The company released its FWD sterndrive engine to the market at the Miami International Boat Show in February. "For a boat company to completely change its drive unit just to cap- ture some wakesurf market to me is very telling that this is really some- thing unique and special," said Meddock. "Five new boat brands are going to be exhibiting at Surf Expo, all in the wake section, all with FWD drive, all because of wakesurfing." (Read more about how manufacturers feel about sterndrives entering the water sports segment on p. 42.) Even accessories manufacturers can see the trend. As wakesurfing has grown in popularity, so has the demand for towers. Marine Accessories Corporation, parent company of Monster Tower, XTreme Tower Prod- ucts and Great Lakes Boat Top Company, used to have an option rate with an OEM of 20 percent for wakeboard towers, but that number has now risen to 70 percent. "We think wakeboard towers have really gone more mainstream in boats these days. Anybody that's on the lake, all you've got to do is look around and you're going to see a lot of wakeboard towers on boats, either OEM or aftermarket," said Rick Reyenger, CEO of Marine Accessories Corporation. "The whole aftermarket segment, as towers have grown in popularity, has really exploded over the last eight or nine years. People just like the looks of towers and they see them on new boats, so naturally they want them on their older boat." The popularity of wakesurfing caused Nautique to redesign the hull of its G-series boats. When the G-series was launched three years ago, the goal was to build the ultimate wakeboard boat. With the shift in consumer demand to wakesurfing, Nautique undertook significant product develop- ment to put as much energy into designing the perfect wakesurf wave as it had done with the wakeboard wake. The original G-series was designed so that the rear corners of each side Meloon said wakesurfing has broadened the age group in terms of who is participating behind the boat.